Judge warns on drugs and mental health

A 20-year-old man brandished a knife with a nine inch blade and threatened to harm his mother, brother and himself, Craigavon Magistrates Court heard last Friday.

Kyle Elliott, Clendinning Way, Portadown, admitted two charges of common assault on May 3 this year.

The court heard that the defendant’s mother called police to report that her son was waving a nine inch bladed knife.

Elliott was screaming and shouting in the house and put his face towards her leaving her in fear of being assaulted.

The mother locked herself in a bedroom and the brother said Elliott started shouting at him before he got a bread knife and threatened to do harm to him.

When interviewed the defendant admitted having the knife. He said his father left ten years ago and he had turned to drugs to cope with that. A barrister representing Elliott said he had spent time in custody on these charges. He added that during the incident he hurt himself and was bleeding.

District Judge, Mrs Bernie Kelly, said there was a direct link between mental health and abuse of drugs, all the more when starting on drugs at a young age.

She added that this must have been frightening for the mother and brother, both being placed in fear.

“If you don’t go and get help and clean yourself up, you’ll never see your 30th birthday,” the judge told the defendant.

For each of the two assaults she sentenced him to one month in custody, with the terms to run concurrently. She also ordered him to pay a £25 offender’s levy.

She also invoked a five month suspended sentence which he received on March 9 consecutively making a total of six months in custody.